Vintage oversized sunglasses. So cute!

I'm a huge fan of sun glasses. I love these vintage ladies and their specs!





(All from the LIFE archive. Photo #4: Carole Lombard from 1938 by Alfred Eisenstaedt)

Flashback Friday: A Family Affair

For today's Flashback Friday, I'm focusing on the family. Or, what family and family spaces looked like back in the 1970s.

First up, what looks to be a very fun family picnic:

And then on the next page (literally, you turn the page) and see this ad for a fridge repair service.
So, being a suburban housewife is like, so not fun. But here's a nursery that is all cheer (love the sunflower wallpaper!):

I love this sweet cover for a 1971 children's magazine from the makers of Golden Books:

This picture struck me: You just don't see kid buns in magazines anymore!


Have a happy Friday my lovely readers!

Flashback Friday: Polaroids

Perhaps you've heard about the Impossible Project, a plan to recreate an instant film like the late, great Polaroid film. While so much of the past is destroyed, I'm hoping the Impossibles can make a film as good or better. There is something so melancholy about Polaroids, the way the light is muted and the edges are never crisp.

Anyway, here is an image gallery I put together from a huge collection of reader Polaroids sent in to the NY Times. There's a story here somewhere...

All Polaroid images from NY Times blog, Lens by David W. Dunlap:
Greenery: Jonathan Hankin
North Carolina state fair: Julia Parris
Poppies: Pascale Simon
Home: Kari Hartmann
Cupcake: Amanda Gilligan
Drive-in: Kari Hartmann
Red shoes: Paula Brandao
Curtains: Catherine Buca

Flashback Friday: Look Fabulous Wherever You Are!

Happy Friday! I'm off for a few days. I'll be back next week with some fabulousness. Until then, ta ta my lovelies!

Flashback Friday: Q is for questions!

Happy Friday! (Photo via Wardomatic)

Flashback Friday: Vintage Vacation

Happy Friday!

(Via thepointol.com, truusbobjantoo, www.ultraswank.net)

Flashback Friday: Pretty Swanky

The 70s really knew how to get mellow. Dark woods, subdued lighting, clingy polyester... A recipe for some sweet, sweet, moments.


Yeah, those are cheese graters as light fixtures...


Better to use bundt pans:


This room makes me feel weird.

Weirder.
Beware of putting your love tub outdoors where the neighborhood mountain man can find it.


Have a very swanky Friday. See you next week!

(Top photo from a 1970 Look magazine, all others from the Flickr group 1970s Interior Design Pool)

Flashback Friday: Bedrooms That Pop

I recently found a stash of home decorating magazines at an estate sale, so hopefully in the coming weeks I'll have a chance to scan images and bring you some crazy 1970s decor. In the meantime, here are two bedrooms that really pop:

Don't you just love the green desk paired with black and white shutters and curtains? The matching green cushion on the tulip chair is a nice touch. You can tell this is the 1970s on account of the missing laptop:


This room is a little wackadoodle but I do enjoy the yellow chair in the right corner. The whole chair isn't visible, but I think it is a version of Eero Saarinen's "Womb Chair":


I don't know if you can find them in yellow, but here is a reproduction in white ($479 at shopseating.com):

Or a true version from Knoll in a delish orange:

See you next Friday!

Flashback Friday: Art Display

This week's Flashback Friday is about hanging art in the home. All of the images today are from the 1973 Better Homes and Gardens guide "Great Ideas Under $100." That's like $479.88 in today's money.* Anyway, here are some neat ideas for displaying art--particularly art that is inexpensive or DIY.

First up: Double your pleasure by hanging the same poster twice as a mirror image. ( I think this is a Peter Max poster, but it could work just as well with an image of Justin Timberlake...)


This could be a room circa 2009. Note the mix of painting and interesting objects hung together:


Here's a wall of postcards framed together with a mirror in the center:



Here's an inexpensive idea done well: Buy a large canvas and paint a simple graphic image.

Happy Friday folks!

(*Seriously, check out this site to calculate inflation rates.)

Flashback Friday: Mellow Yellow

I've been loving yellow for a while now. Perhaps it is a sign of my sunnier disposition--sunnier than when my favorite color was black, to be sure. For this Flashback Friday, I'm posting citrus-infused interiors from the days when decorators never shied away from bright colors. Yes, the 1960s and 1970s were the glory days for bold colors, but I see the influences poking through our more subdued aughts.

Here's a 1970s bathroom that doesn't shy away from stapling faux fruit to the ceiling for (excellent) effect:


The effect reminds me of the poolside lemonade stand at The Parker Palm Springs.


This is just a whole mess o' yellow, but it works:


Echos in the work of Jonathan Adler, no?:

Flashback Friday: Red Rum Red Rum

For this week's Flashback Friday, I've found some circa 1970s rooms that embrace and celebrate the color red.

In this era, using the same material for your drapes, wallcovering, and duvet was like, very Lee Radziwill (but what an aewsome buttery yellow headboard!):

The graphic black & white tree wallpaper looks modern while the flashy fabrics covering the futon and papasans brighten these dorm room essentials:

Something about this room makes me smile. The red walls and glossy floors create an elegant backdrop for an art-filled room fit for a family. Nonetheless, the clown painting makes me feel weird.

Images: New Directions In Decorating, 1973, Look, 1970